Ments



G. P. THURBER.

DRAW BAR FOR RAILROAD CARS.

A TI'ORNEY Patented Aug. 1, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l APPLICATI ON FILED SEPT-1.1911.

v lllnllllllvlvukmvliuiu w m w m.

WITNESSES G. P THURBER.

DRAW-BAR FOR RAILROAD CARS. APPLICATION 111.51) SEPT. 1. 1911.

Patented Aug. '1, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2 mommy G. P. THURBER. DRAW BAR FOR RAIL'ROAD CARS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-1,1911.

Patented Aug. 1 1916.

s smears-sun's WITNESSES:

INVENTOI? GUY P. THUBBER, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSKGN- MENTS, TO AUTOMATIC TRAIN CONTROL & SIGNAL COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH,

PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

DRAW-BAR FOR RAILROAD-CARS.

Application filed September 1, 1911.

State of Pennsylvania, have'invented a new and useful Draw-13ar for Railroad-Cars, of

which the following is a specification.

In. automatic train control systems such as is disclosed in the patent to Gray, No.

909,083,'in which a normally closed charged cab circuit normally completed through the track is relied upon to control the train, it is desirable to insulate that car through which the circuit passes from the remainder of the train. I

ln order to effect this, it is preferable to insulate in some way the draw bar of the coupler from the car carrying the same. It will be appreciated, however, that the insulation of the draw bar presents peculiar ditliculties, owing to the stresses and strains to which said draw-bar is necessarily subjected in coupling and uncoupling the cars and in propelling the train over the road bed. It will also be appreciated that in case the insulation breaks down or Wears through, it is highly necessary that such break downshould be detected by the operation of the train control system itself.

\Vith the above and other objects in view,

the invention consists of the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangements ofparts set forth in the claims,

a preferred embodiment of whlch is shown in the accompanying drawings and description.

In the said drawings, F1gure 1 1s a plan 'view, partly in section, on the line 11 of i Fig. 2 is a sectional View on the line 22 of 1, with the draft gear and draw bar removed; 3 is a transverse sectional View on the line of Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a second transverse sectional View on the line H ofFigQ'L 'Fig. 5 is a diagrannnatic yiew showing atypical circuit in which the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 1., 191%..

Serial No. 647,281.

detector of the draw bar insulation is in cluded. Fig. 6 is a perspective View of one of the sheets of insulatingmaterial used in insulating the draft gear, housing and supporting means of the car.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

Suitable supporting means are carried by the car 10, preferably'by the body bolster member thereof. In the present instance said supporting means consist of forward and rearward end abutment members 11 and 12 and longitudinally extendingconnecting members 13 and 14. These parts, as shown more particularly in Fig. 1, are arranged in spaced relation to each other so as toprovide room for the draw bar and the insulated supporting means of'the same.

15 indicates a housing composed in the present instance of two separate castings, as shown more particularly in Figs. 1 and 3, said housing having end abutments formed by the webs 16, 17, 18 and 19.

Suitable means for insulating the housing from the supporting means of the car and for detecting the break down of the insulation are provided. In the present in stance these means consist of sheets of in-' sulating material of the peculiar form shown in Fig.1 6. Two such sheets, QO and 21, are used'iior each casting of the housing 15, and

interposed between the said two sheets is a shown more particularly in Figs. 1, Q'a-nd- 3, SGI'YQS to insulate the high point 27 of the housing 15 from the bddy'of the car above the same (not shown). The housing 15 is Secured to the longitudinally extending connecting members 13' and 14 by means of the bolts 28'surrounded by insulating bushings 29, as shown.

Carried by the housing 15 are two longitudinally extending sills 30 on which'rests:

the draft gear 31. The draft gear may be of theconventional type well-known in the art, and it is therefore thought unnecessary to describe the same in detail except to say that said draft gear consists in part of keepers 32 which rest upon the sills 30 and engage the webs 17 and 18 of the abutments of.v the housing 15. The draw bar 33, 1s pivotally connected to the draft gear 1n the usual way, such as for instance by means of the king bolt 34 which passes through the end of the said draw bar and through the ends of the usual yoke 35.

Carried by the forward end abutment member 11 of the supporting means is a transverse supporting bar 36 secured to said member 11 by means of the insulated bolts 37. Between the .bar 36 and the member 11 there is the double insulation 38, with a' detector plate 39v therebetween, so that the said bar 36 is insulated from the supporting means of the car. In the form here shown ,the insulation 38 and the detector plate 39;

are continued up around the draw bar 33 so as to form a guard for the same to limit its pivotal movement. The bar 36 may act as a support for the draw bar 33.

From the foregoing it' will appear-that the entire draft gear, including the keepers 32, yoke 35 and draw bar 33, is insulated from the'car.

It will further be understood that the end- Wise strain of the draw bar is transmitted through the yoke to the keepers 32 and thence by means of the abutments formed by the webs 16, 17, 18 and 19 to the end abutment members 11 and 12. Thus very little, if any,.strain is placed upon the bolts 28. Practically all the strainof the draw bar will serve merely to compress the insulation at 24 and 25, depending upon the direction of the thrust.

In Fig.- 5 is shown diagrammatically the circuit in which the detector member ofthe insulation is placed. As there shown, the

car 10 is provided with a battery 40, from which leads a conductor 41 to the bolster 42 of the car. From thence the current passes through truck 43 to the rails 44 to the other set of trucks 45, thence by way of conductor 46 to relay47 to conductor 48, which-passes through the truck insulation 49, thence by conductor 50 to the metallic detector plates of the draw bar 33,'and thence by way of conductor 50 back to the battery. Normally the current will take the path just described and will therefore normally hold the down, there will be a short circuit say tothe bolster 42 of the car. In that event the current would then go from the battery 40 by Way of conductor 41 to the truck bolster 42,

by wayjof the detector plate in the draw bar to the conductor 50, and thence to the battery 40, thereby deenergizing the relay'v 47. Under the influence'of this relay there may be another circuit indicated by means of the armature 51 and conductors and 53. Thus when the relay 47 is deenergized the train control circuit represented by ,51,

52 and 53 will be ruptured. What is'claimed is: c 1. An insulated coupling means for cars comprising: supporting means connected to the car, a housing mounted on said supporting means and insulated therefrom, and draft gear carried by the housing.

2. An insulated coupling means for cars comprising: supporting means connected to the car, a housing mounted on said supporting means and. insulated therefrom, draft gear carried by the housing, a draw bar pivotally connected to the draftgear, and an insulated guard on the supporting means.

for limiting the pivotal movement of the draw bar.- I

3. An insulated coupling means for cars comprising: supporting means connected to the car consisting of transverse forward and rearward end abutment members and longitudinally extendingconnecting members, a housing mounted between the abutment and connecting members and lnsu'lated therefrom, and draft gear carried by the housing.

4. An insulated coupling means for cars comprising: supporting means connected to relay 47 energized. If now the insulation in. the draw bar'structure should break 'the car, a housing mounted on said supporting means and insulated therefrom, draft gear carried by the housing, a draw bar pivotally connected to the draft gear, and a transverse supporting bar carried by the supporting means and insulated therefrom on which the said draw bar rests.

6. An insulated coupling means for cars comprising: supporting means connected to the car consisting oftransrerseforward and rearward end abutment members and longitudinally extending connecting members, a

housing mounted between the abutment and connecting members and. insulated there- 7 weenie from, draftgear carried by thb housing, a draw bar pivotally connected to the draft gear, and a transverse supporting bar mounted on the forward end abutment memabutments of the housing and the abutment members of the supporting means and between the sides of the housing and the longitudinally extending connecting members, draft gear carried 1n the housing and consisting in part of keepers and a yoke, the said keepers being adapted to engage the abutments of the housing on the. inner sides thereof, and insulated means for securing the longitudinally extending connecting members and the housing to each ot er,

8;. An insulated coupling means or cars comprising: supporting means connected to the car consisting of transverse forward and rearward end abutment members and longitudinally extending connecting members, a housing mounted between the abutment and connecting members and provided with end abutments, insulation between the and abutments of the housing and the abutment members of the supporting means and, between the sides of the housing and the longitudinally extending connecting members, draft gear carried in the housing and consisting in part of keepers and a yoke, the said keepers being adapted to engage the abutments of the housing on the inner sides thereof, insulated means for securing the longitudinally extending connecting members and the housing to each other, a trans verse supporting bar carried by the forward abutment member of the supporting means and insulated therefrom, and a draw bar pivotally connected to the yoke, resting on said supporting bar.

9. An insulated coupling means for cars comprising supporting means connectedto the car consisting of transverse forward and rearward end abutment members and longi tudinally extending connecting members, a

housing mounted between the abutment andconnecting members and provided with end abutments, insulation between the end abutments of the housing and the abutment members of the supporting means and between the sides of the housing and-the longitudinally extending cor ct members, draft gear carried inv and consisting in part 1 be Finite, the

ar a keepers cei abutments of the housing on the inner sides thereof, insulated means for securing the longitudinally extending connecting members and the housing to each other, a transverse supporting bar carried by the forward abutment, member of the supporting means and insulated therefrom, a draw bar pivotally connected to the yoke resting on said supporting bar, and means insulated from the supportingvmeansfor limiting the pivotal movement of the draw bar. I

10. vAn insulated coupling means for cars comprising: supporting means connected to the car consisting of transverse forward and rearward end abutment members and longi tudinally extendingiconnecting members, a housing, mounted between the abutment and connecting members and insulated therefrom, longitudinally extending sills carried by said housing, and draft gear supported on said sills.

. 11. An insulated coupling means for cars comprising: supporting means connected to the car, a housing mounted on said supporting means, means for insulating the supporting means and the housing fromeach other, a draft gear carried by the housing, and complementary means intermediate the housing and the draft gear for taking up the longitudinal stresses of the draft gear.

12. An insulated coupling'means for cars comprising: a car, supporting means connected to said car, a housing mounted on said supporting means, abutment members carried by said supporting means at the 1 front and the rear of said housing, saidhousing being insulated from the supportarranged to the rear and in front of said i-ihousmg to relieve said connection from strain, sald housing being insulated from said supporting means and from said abutment members. i

14. An insulated coupl ng means for cars comprising: supporting means connected tothe car consisting of longitudinally extending members, a housing bolted to said membersv and insulated therefrom, abutment members arranged to the rear and in front of said housing to relieve the bolts from strain, said abutment members being insulated from said housing, and draft gear carried by said housing,

15. An insulated coupling means for cars comprising: a car, supporting means con nected to the car consisting'of transverse.

forward and rearward abutment members and longitudinally extending connecting members, a housing carrled by sald members and separated from said members on whereby any strain impartedto said whousall sides by insulation, whereby any strain ing will compress said insulation, and draft imparted to said housing will compress said gear carried by said housing.

insulation, and draftgear carried by said In testimony that I clann the foregoing 5 housing. v as my own, I have hereto affixed my'signa- 15 16. An insulated coupling means for cars ture in'the presence of tWo witnesses. comprising: a car, supporting means con- GUY P. THUR-BER. nected to the car consisting of a frame- Witnesses: work, a housing supported in said frame- ERNEST Runs, 10 work and insulated onfall sides therefrom GARDNER B. GRAY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of IPatents,

i Washington, D. 0. 

